The Weeks Review

MY PERCEPTIONS FROM LAST NIGHT’S DEBATE

Rudy Giuliani: Competent and confident. I like Rudy and think he would make a fine president and nothing he said or did last night changed that. He has an enormous capacity for leadership and knows how to make the tough decisions.

Fred Thompson: Fred is not afraid to call things exactly as he sees them and will lose no sleep if he doesn’t get the nomination and I find that refreshing. He’s like the slightly grumpy grandfather from whom wisdom flows like water from a faucet. Last night, he seemed in command of his facts, yet it seemed he was not given much of a chance to speak, unfortunately.

Mike Huckabee: He seemed out of his league. He was evasive on the subject of taxes and was thoroughly destroyed on the subject of Gitmo by Fred. I didn’t like him going in and liked him even less after his performance last night. He would be a disastrous nominee.

Mitt Romney: While Mitt has not been on my “A” list, last night I found him very impressive. He was in control of himself and his positions. He looked very “presidential” and I came away with a much better impression of him than I had going in. He still looks like a presidential candidate from central casting, but he’s also a very smart guy and it shows.

John McCain: He looked old, particularly sitting next to Romney. He seemed to have toned down his arrogant attitude a bit last night and he probably had some teeth marks on his tongue this morning as a result. I think that he has temperament issues that presidents simply should not have. My problems with McCain are legion and can be summed up by saying he’s just not reliably Republican, much less conservative. McCain-Feingold will, and should haunt him for the rest of his career; limitations on free speech should not be taken lightly.